The Reader Travels

I read Cormac McCarthy’s The Road this past summer, thinking it might be a nice addition to my road trip tour. It’s the story of a father and son traveling through post-apocolyptic North America. Along the road, they search for food and for some evidence to support their dream that maybe, just maybe, there are a few good people left in the world.

I enjoyed the book. It’s well written, deep and poetic. But I did have a few problems with it. First off, I just couldn’t understand how they could survive when absolutely no wild life, other than one stray dog could survive. There wasn’t even any mention of cockroaches, which as everyone knows will outlast any catastrophe.

Another problem I had was the absolutist approach that cannibalism could be nothing but evil. It seems a very narrow world view to me, but at the same time, it works for the story, as what they see from the road must certainly be a similarly narrow view. In most travels, what we see from the road merely scrapes the surface of the life beyond the road. And we all know that the locals don’t always welcome travelers for dinner, unless it’s maybe to eat them.

One thing I loved was the images and memories of fish as a symbol of heaven. I guess as Thanksgiving approaches, we really should be thankful for the things we often take for granted, things as simple as the ability to go fishing in a lake or river, to bring home food for our bellies.

Anyway, it’s only appropriate that the movie is out now, during Thanksgiving time. Be thankful for what you have, for it all might be taken away.

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 22nd, 2009 at 10:45 am and is filed under road tripping. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.